Level the playing field for colleges vs schools

Do colleges feel picked on? You bet. Funding cuts over the last 10 years and the difficulties in dealing with less money, annual redundancy rounds and adapting to a declining market have led to us being put under the cosh by government and Ofsted in a number of ways, some unfairly.

There isn’t a level playing field. Colleges need be treated in the same way as other providers, such as academies, school sixth forms and UTCs. Here’s what needs to change:

VAT

FE colleges pay it… others don’t. If we demerged our 16-18 work and set up an academy, we’d save £350,000 a year in VAT.

Let’s have one system, or let everyone use the other, to even things out, even though there’s a good chance that Spreadsheet Phil might prefer that all institutions pay.

New buildings

Colleges, or at least the financially viable ones, contribute to capital expenditure. In our case we have self-funded new build and the most we have ever received from the government is a 25 per cent contribution. The benefit of this approach is that it does make you think long and hard as to what you really need and why.

But school sixth forms and UTCs get 100 per cent capital funding. The taxpayer pays for the lot. No wonder there’s excess capacity of bricks and mortar for 16-18 provision, the average class size in school sixth forms is around seven – according to DfE data – and UTCs are on average working at only 50 per cent capacity. This is not an efficient use of scarce educational resources.

FE has been the Cinderella sector far too long

Area reviews

The heroic assumption with area reviews is that merging will cure all financial ills. We know that this doesn’t always follow: colleges large and small have got into financial difficulties.

But if big is beautiful, then surely UTCs and school sixth forms should be subjected to the same scrutiny?

There are over 1,200 school sixth forms and UTCs in this country each with less than 100 learners – a concern in terms of value for money/efficiency, never mind quality and breadth of the learner experience.

Quality

The DfE should publish 16-18 achievement rates for all providers, including drop-out rates as well as year-end successes – it’s the only way of assessing overall quality. The performance tables do not show drop-outs from subjects or institutions, except indirectly in the progress measures for English and maths, because a score of -1 is assigned for a drop-out or a no-show at an exam.

On a positive note, here’s what looks like it might be changing:

Access to schools

Colleges struggle to get access to schools so we have to rely on expensive, above-the-line advertising to get our message across. From a freedom-of-choice perspective this is unfair.

Lord Baker’s amendment to the Technical and Further Education Bill (which has already become immortalised as the ‘Baker clause’) theoretically means schools will have to allow a “range of education and training providers” access to pupils aged between 13 and 18, to promote technical education qualifications or apprenticeships.

This should be for all provision, including ‘academic’ and hybrid (a mix of academic with vocational) routes. It’s high time this change happened.

T-levels

Funding for primary and secondary education has risen rapidly in the last 25 years, and universities can raise income by levying tuition fees. But there’s been no such rise for FE.

So the budget announcement on T-levels – which seem to be a resurrection of Ed Balls’ 14 routes to stardom (now 15) – provides a welcome boost in funding to vocational education.

The chancellor has promised an additional £500 million a year by 2022 – a 19 per cent increase. This goes some way to restoring the cuts to maximum annual funded hours, now down to 540 and 450 respectively for 17 and 18-year-olds.

I hope the extra funding will flow to broader educational needs including the generic skills of English, maths and IT. If so, this might just be the longer term solution to increased productivity that the chancellor wants.

These two developments suggest government seems (at last!) to understand that further education is vital to the future of the UK’s economy.

Let’s hope they follow up these positive announcements by addressing the remaining inequalities. FE has been the Cinderella sector far too long.

 

Graham Taylor is principal and chief executive at New College Swindon

Don’t forget work experience in the apprenticeships frenzy

Of course there will be teething troubles as the levy kicks in, but current developments in the apprenticeships arena – the most significant overhaul of the system for more than 30 years – have to be warmly welcomed. Anything that significantly enhances employability, work readiness and job prospects must be good.

Many of today’s senior industry leaders will say that they owe it all to what they learned as an apprentice. Apprenticeships are already in the DNA of industries like engineering, but one of the most positive outcomes of these new initiatives will be their becoming the norm in all industries, professions and sectors.

But – and there’s always a but – there are dangers of which we must be aware.

Sir Dominic Cadbury’s line, that “there is no such thing as a career path; there is only crazy paving and you have to lay it yourself”, so effectively encapsulates what has happened to the pattern of working life in recent decades. People are forced to navigate an extremely complex and confusing path which, almost invariably, has no clear signposts.

Work experience is important to successful navigation, whether it’s paid or unpaid. Apprenticeships are a powerful and influential form of work experience, but they are not the only one.

Getting it right is a win-win-win

My first concern is that, in all the frenzy currently surrounding apprenticeships, and the resources their implementation will demand, other types of work experience will get less attention than they merit. Placements (from the traditional five days for year 10 students to the incoming three-month placements for 16- to 19-year-olds in technical education), traineeships, internships and volunteering that leads to employment are all immensely important.

Traineeships have an especially key role to play as a lead-in, pre-apprenticeship programme. One could consider placements, internships and volunteering as being primarily about “soft skills” and getting to understand the working environment – whereas traineeships can be considered more “sleeves-rolled-up” preparation for a job in a specific sector.

Unemployed young people who have little or no work experience and who have not yet achieved a full level three qualification are going to find the job hunt especially hard. They’re also unlikely to be ready to fully capitalise on an apprenticeship. Traineeships help to bridge that experience and skills gap, as well as adding capacity to employers, and to send the learners on the path to employment or an apprenticeship.

Work experience that begins as early as possible (and I’d like to see it start with 11-year-olds) and continues throughout a young person’s educational and personal development, taking some people right through to a degree apprenticeship, is a hugely powerful navigational tool for those learners on careers’ crazy paving.

For employers, it represents a genuine talent pipeline that has significant bottom-line benefits, alongside CSR merits. These range from cutting recruitment costs to providing invaluable management experience and raising both the morale and productivity of an existing workforce.

Getting it right is a win-win-win for learner, employer and learning provider – and ultimately for our economy and society.

Work experience is a hugely powerful navigational tool for those learners on careers’ crazy paving

But it is pointless if the work experience, in whatever form, is not undertaken by all parties at the highest possible quality. And that’s my other concern.

In focusing on meeting numerical targets and ensuring that levy contributions are fully used, there’s a risk of corners being cut and apprenticeships not being carried out thoroughly enough. The new standards, if devised correctly, will be an invaluable guide to getting it right, but success will be absolutely dependent on everyone involved being committed to quality.

So, as the apprenticeships momentum gathers pace, let’s not overlook other forms of work experience, which are vital elements, both in learners’ pathways and employers’ talent pipelines and, above all, let’s not jeopardise quality as we strive for quantity.

 

Rod Natkiel will be running a workshop called ‘Creating a talent pipeline for the future’ at AAC2017

College steps in as sponsor to save 103-year-old local carnival

A Hampshire college has saved a historic local carnival from cancellation by stepping in as the official sponsor.

After concerns the 103-year-old Totton and Eling carnival would be cancelled due to lack of funds, Totton College offered up financial support to keep it afloat following discussions with carnival organisers.

Not only will the college now fund the event, but students on the BTEC public services courses will act as stewards on the day.

Derek Headrige, the college’s campus principal, said: “The carnival is close to the hearts of many residents here in Totton which is why it is so important to us that it goes ahead. It is a longstanding tradition and is always well attended.

“It is a really upbeat and positive event that brings the whole community together and we are delighted to be providing our support this year to make it happen.”

The theme of the carnival – which takes place on June 10 – is ‘animals’, and there are around 16 floats expected on the day.

 

Main image: A float from last year’s Totton carnival 

Rare passenger plane is backdrop for student horror film

A group of media students from East Durham College have used a rare passenger plane as the location for several of their horror film projects.

The 14 students, all studying their technical level three diploma in media, paid a visit to the last complete Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C passenger plane left in the world, and used it as the backdrop for their shoot.

The former BA aircraft was moved from Heathrow airport to Durham Tees Valley in 1983 when it left service, before it was brought to its current home at the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum in 2011.

Amanda Gregory, the head of department said: “They are each making a horror film, and working on a green screen was distracting from what was happening later in the film. Having explored different effects, they decided to do it in a real environment.

“This is the only plane of its kind still in existence and the footage was incredible.”

The final results will be seen when the films – covering every aspect of the genre from monster movies to zombies – are completed as part of the course.

 

Main image: Media students with the Hawker Siddeley HS.121 Trident 1C aircraft

I wouldn’t ‘trust’ the new Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers

Many of the colleges and training providers that failed to get on the apprenticeship provider register are red-faced.

Not just angry but embarrassed, given some simply failed to comprehensively answer the questions in the tender document.

The SFA is sticking to its guns, but I suspect a quick reapplication will result in this being a temporary setback.

A much bigger concern should be whether this new register contains only what the DfE press release described as “top-quality training providers”.

Robert Halfon, the apprenticeships minister, when unveiling the register, also said: “We are giving employers the confidence to do business with high-quality training providers.”

And we’ve since received press releases from jubilant firms claiming they have been given what they call “government trusted training provider status”.

But, to my surprise, it turns out companies with little or no trading history have successfully found their way onto the register.

These new firms probably wrote beautiful apprenticeship plans in their application, but in the real world employers get confidence from experience.

The SFA said they would set the entry bar high, but as exposed in the pages of FE Week, this has proven not to be the case.

So employers will still need to do their own due diligence when picking a provider, posing the question: why bother with a register at all?

Autocar’s car industry awards for women open up to apprentices

An annual event identifying and promoting women in the car industry will, for the first time, have a category for apprentices.

Every ear, Autocar’s annual Great British Women in the Car Industry looks for the most promising women working in UK automotive industry, and celebrates the top 100 at an annual awards ceremony.

This year, winners will also be picked in the new apprentices category, alongside those in the existing categories of vehicle development, manufacturing, purchasing, retail, marketing, communications, design, motorsport and executive.

Candidates must be nominated by friends, colleagues or their employers, with judges taking into account the influence or potential future influence each individual has when making their decision.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: “We need to attract the most talented people to enter the workplace. We want to highlight successful women who’ve made a difference in UK automotive and to provide inspiration for many others considering their future careers.”

To submit a nomination, please email jim.holder@haymarket.com, Autocar’s editorial director, with the name of the nominee, their CV and a paragraph on why they deserve to be there by April 3. There is no limit to the number of nominations that can be made.

The winners will be announced on June 21

Budding chefs take over hotel kitchen for culinary battle

A team of student chefs staged a kitchen takeover at a local hotel and went head to head in a culinary battle. Samantha King reports

Six student chefs from Sunderland College took over the kitchen of the Washington Holiday Inn for a day, to creat their own three-course menus.

Splitting into teams of two, the culinary trainees went head to head under the watchful eye of the hotel’s head chef Mariusz Urbanczyk, and battled it out to see who would be crowned takeover champions.

The winning team, who created the dish that was most popular with guests, was made up of Eleanor Wilson, Morgan Brickle and Connor Mills.

The students made quite an impression on the hotel’s general manager Paul Mandeir, who said he was “delighted” with the way the day went.

He added: “It is clear from the delivery of service that the students will excel in the hospitality trade. All of the guests who attended enjoyed the food and left delighted with the event.”

The event wasn’t just to determine who the best chefs were however, with £160 raised on the day going to the Holiday Inn’s chosen charities, Grace House and Greenfingers.

Rob Stewart, Sunderland College’s curriculum leader for hospitality, tourism and engagement, said: “We were really pleased to help support local charities and give the learners an opportunity to see inside a different type of kitchen to any they’d seen or worked in before.

“They all put in a lot of effort to prepare for the event and so hearing such positive feedback from the diners made it all worthwhile.”

Last September, the college’s catering students were moved into brand new facilities, which included a bakery, a training kitchen, two learning kitchens, plus a new commercial restaurant, City Bistro.

“With the facilities our students are used to cooking in day in day out, they are gaining the knowledge and skills they need to become top chefs,” added Mr Stewart.

“We encourage them to do as many work placements as they can in restaurants while they are studying with us and along with the experience they gain in City Bistro – which is fast becoming one of the most popular restaurants in the city – they are getting a great head start in the industry.”

The takeover was arranged with the help of Reed NCFE, which joined forces with Sunderland College in 2014 to create a job zone offering work experience opportunities and careers guidance.

Katrina Blyth, employment broker for Reed NCFE, said: “The students have had the chance to create their own menus, cost their menu, prepare and, ultimately, take over the professional kitchen at the Holiday Inn, cooking for a restaurant of people.

“This has proved to be a real eye-opener for the students in terms of the hard work that goes in to running a real-life, working kitchen and they have all done a wonderful job.”

No Birmingham colleges make apprenticeships register

The nation’s second largest city may not have an FE college delivering apprenticeships when the levy launches in April, as none of its colleges has made it onto the new register of apprenticeship training providers.

Birmingham Metropolitan College, Bournville College, South and City College and Solihull College were all missing from the list published by the Skills Funding Agency on Tuesday – despite the four currently delivering almost £12 million worth of apprenticeships between them.

Several other major apprenticeship-delivering colleges have also failed to make the list, including Bournemouth and Poole College and Hartlepool College, both rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, and which have apprenticeship allocations of £5.6 million and £2.9 million respectively.

In all, FE Week estimates that at least 21 colleges that were eligible to apply, with a combined allocation of £44 million, did not make it onto the register.

David Hughes, AoC’s chief executive, said he was “concerned about the exclusion of some high-quality colleges from the register” and would be raising the issue with the SFA and the Department for Education “as a matter of urgency”.

BMet’s principal Andrew Cleaves told FE Week that “we are very surprised and disappointed by the outcome”. 

Read Editor Nick Linford’s view here

He said that his college, which has the largest 2016/17 SFA allocation of all four, at almost £4.7m, had “put forward a solid proposal to the SFA” and had “grown significantly this past year”.

The college’s most recent Ofsted report was published Thursday (March 16) and gave the college a grade three overall, with a grade two for apprenticeship provision.

“We are now working with the SFA to see how we can address things and are confident that this will reach a positive conclusion over the coming weeks, for BMet and our many satisfied employers and apprentices,” he said.

Bournville College and South and City College, which are currently in federation ahead of a planned merger later this year, have a 2016/17 apprenticeships allocation of almost £5 million between them.

South and City College received a grade two overall, including its apprenticeship provision, when it was inspected by Ofsted in December 2015.

But Bournville received a grade four for its apprenticeship provision during its most recent Ofsted inspection in September – which meant it was ineligible to apply for the register, according to SFA rules.

A spokesperson for the two colleges confirmed that Bournville hadn’t applied.

“However, we were very shocked to discover that the South and City College application had been unsuccessful, given our grade two Ofsted report and excellent track record,” she said.

“We are keen to understand why this was the case and have already sought feedback. It is our intention to reapply at the next possible opportunity.”

A spokesperson for Solihull College said it was “very surprised” not to be on the new register.

The college, which has an allocation of £2.3 million, was rated ‘good’ overall and for its apprenticeship provision at its most recent Ofsted inspection in November.

The college is “in discussion” with the SFA about “next steps and are awaiting a response”.

All four colleges were part of the Birmingham and Solihull area review, along with three sixth form colleges – none of which are on the register.

One of the outcomes from the review, which finished in March last year, was to set up an apprenticeship company.

According to the review’s final report, which was published in November, the company would “provide the first collaborative college-owned company delivering a dedicated service to employers to increase the range, volume and quality of apprenticeships in the Birmingham and Solihull area” and would be “driven by employer demand”.

Movers and Shakers: Edition 203

Your weekly guide to who’s new, and who’s leaving

There have been two new appointments at Askham Bryan College, which specialises in land-based courses.

Sandra Burnhill has been appointed executive director of the York college.

She joins Askham Bryan from her role as assistant principal at Kirklees College, which she has held since 2009.

Beginning her career as a police officer, she first started working in further education in 1989 as a sport and public services lecturer at Dewsbury College. She later became its head of department before moving on to the role of assistant principal.

In the new role at the college, Ms Burnhill says she is most “looking forward to returning to her North Yorkshire roots” and sees working in the land sector as going back to her “agricultural” beginnings, after growing up with the sheep her parents kept.

“For a while now I have wanted to work with students learning about the land-based sector,” she said.

“I am looking forward to working with the college’s curriculum team, particularly with the challenges and opportunities which government reforms to apprenticeships offer.”

She will begin in the role on March 20.

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A former Askham Bryan student, Josh Banks, has been meanwhile appointed as the college’s farm manager.

He will be responsible for running the three farms at the campus – totalling more than 600 hectares of land – as well as supporting student learning and assisting with public visits such as lambing Sunday, which often attracts 5,000 visitors.

He will oversee facilities such as the college’s milking parlour, which has the capacity for more than 240 cows, as well as crops currently being grown across the land.

Mr Banks, 30, graduated from the college four years ago, and has since gained experience across the industry, specialising in livestock. He said he was “delighted to be back at the college”.

“During my three years there as a student I thoroughly enjoyed my learning experience.

“My degree gave me the ability to progress quickly through the industry, culminating in my recent appointment as the college’s new farm manager.”

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Paul Riley has been appointed as the new principal at Worthing College.

The West Sussex college is spread across an 18 acre campus, and received a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted in its latest inspection.

Mr Riley takes up the new role from his prior position as interim principal at the college, which he has held since September last year following the retirement of Peter Corrigan.

In response to the appointment, he said he was “thrilled to be given the opportunity to be the guardian of the Worthing College community”.

He hopes to lead the college to an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating within the next three years, adding: “I am relishing the prospect of leading the organisation and continuing with the innovative work we are already doing to create an exciting and dynamic college in the heart of our local community.”

 

If you want to let us know of any new faces at the top of your college, training provider or awarding organisation please let us know by emailing news@feweek.co.uk